No Green Light for Hubble Rescue

Despite recent reports about a Hubble rescue mission, NASA has no formal plans to repair the aging space telescope and is not likely to be able to fund such a mission even if it did.

NASA's top administrator sparked reports of a definite Hubble rescue mission when he told the agency's employees on Monday, "we've got an option we're ready to go with." But NASA has no formal plans to repair the aging space telescope and is not likely to be able to fund such a mission even if it did.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe provided fuel for the media reports during a rousing speech at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where he called on employees to "go save the Hubble" Space Telescope. "Rather than just sitting there and talking about how we think we're going to do it, we've got an option we're ready to go with," said O'Keefe. That option would entail sending the Canadian Dextre robot on an unmanned mission to replace Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes, and to possibly add two new instruments.

However, NASA spokeswoman Dolores Beasly confirmed that no paperwork has been signed nor any funding allocated for such a mission. And in a press conference Tuesday, NASA science chief Al Diaz told reporters the agency had not yet chosen a specific robot, nor had it ruled out the possibility of sending a human crew to repair the Hubble -- if the agency decides to service Hubble at all.

In other words, little has changed since NASA last said it was considering possible options for repairing the ailing space telescope. As for the dozens of media reports claiming otherwise, NASA Goddard spokeswoman Susan Hendrix stopped short of calling them erroneous. O'Keefe's event "was more of a pep rally to thank the staff that has been working days and nights on this," she said.

NASA began looking into robotic options for repairing Hubble earlier this year, after astronomers and space enthusiasts complained about the agency's decision to cancel a scheduled human-servicing mission. Without repair, Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes are expected to fail by 2007 or 2008, eventually sending the 14-year-old satellite plummeting into Earth's atmosphere.

To date, the most viable option for a robotic servicing mission is Dextre, a two-armed robot originally developed for the International Space Station. But the cost of deploying Dextre for this particular mission could reach $1.6 billion, according to O'Keefe -- and that's money the agency doesn't have.

It's also money that Congress doesn't have, especially now that the government is facing a record deficit. In July, a House panel voted to change an appropriations bill so that it would cut NASA's requested 2005 budget by $1.1 billion. And even though a chance still exists that the cuts will be reversed between now and the time the bill hits the president's desk, NASA officials have to contend with the cost of returning the space shuttles to flight --already $900 million over original estimates.

To be sure, asking for additional funding is not NASA's only option. O'Keefe could ask Congress to amend the appropriations bill so it reallocates money within the agency's current programs, according to Hendrix.

If that's the case, NASA officials and scientists may find themselves facing the difficult task of choosing between saving the 14-year old Hubble or pursuing new missions.

At this point, it's unclear which way the agency is leaning. NASA won't even know for certain if a mission with Dextre or any other robot is technically feasible until the agency completes what it calls a critical design review. The event is scheduled to take place in six to 12 months.